July 2, 2026 • 8 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, if your house is anything like ours, wedding A
line's been high on the agenda this school holidays and
dry season. A couple of weeks ago I went out
to Dundee for a weekend and got to check out
the boat ramp out there. Raised a few questions for
me after speaking with locals about the issues that they
encounter with it. But joining me on the line to
(00:20):
talk about plenty of different things when it comes to fishing,
it is David Chirovolo, the CEO of AFANT. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You, David, Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Lovely to have you on the show mate. Have you
been out fishing at all over the last couple of
weeks so you've been too busy working.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have been busy working, but I did have a
bit of a flick down at Casarina chasing the dry
season widing, which is a bit of a thing that
I like to do when I haven't got time to
get the boat out. So yeah, there's plenty of people
out fishing during the school holidays. It's actually been amazing
to see it's.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Going off, no doubt about it. I think it's all
my son's done the whole school holidays and probably plenty
of parents out there saying the same thing. How have
those free boat rides or fairy rides across the Mandora gone?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Oh look. Our partnership with Ceilink getting kids over to
Mandora for free during the school holidays has been tremendously popular.
My last check in with numbers was sort of midweek
and we were well over three hundred. Free tickets have
been taken up, so really popular with the kids heading
(01:32):
over to fish at Mandora.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
It is awesome. I got like an emergency text from
my son one morning saying, Mom, did you register me?
I was like, Oh, sorry, mate, You're just gonna have
to pay today. I was too slow. I think all
the spots had been utilized, but I know that all
the boys and girls have been over there, certainly for
a fish which I reckon. It's just excellent. I think
(01:54):
it's a really good thing for those kids to be
able to get out and about and live that real
territory lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh look, absolutely, And it's also been a great opportunity
for people to rediscover Mandora and to go over and
see the new facility over there, and to really engage
with fishing on the jetty and exploring the coastline, because
the great thing with that jetty now is that the
ferry itself doesn't dock with the jetti. It docks with
(02:24):
the marina, and that means that it's a lot better
for fishing because you can basically set up and get
your baits out for those big pelagic fish. And it's
been really good. And I just say to your listeners, Katie,
there is a calendar system on the ticket, so last
minute ticket on a day of issoosing maybe a problem.
But we do still have days where there are free tickets.
So if people are interested, jump on the atfant website
(02:45):
and there should be some tickets for next week.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and there seems to be plenty available. Hey,
I want to ask you, David. I've been out to
Dundee over the last couple of weeks and there'd been
some feedback from locals around there, and we've got a
few messages about this as well, saying, you know, sort
of talking to us about the boat ramp. What's been
the feedback for you since the boat ramp upgrades.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Look, Katie, one of the one of the perennial things
about you know fishing is that the title change twice
a day and people will be unhappy with donee boat ramp.
It is a real challenge. When I first arrived on
the scene here representing fishes almost ten years ago, people
were really upset that the new all tide boat ramp
(03:33):
that had been built by the previous Colp government wasn't
what people had hoped. And I think one of the
things that we've seen since more money has been spent
on it and going through a long detailed process where
we really were brought into the fold by the previous
government who had a working group for about about sort
(03:55):
of eighteen months around this and there was an engineering
study around the sand and look, the sort of short
answer is there is no perfect solution for that location
because it's a very difficult place to build a boat ramp.
It's shallow. When you go out eight hundred meters, it
only gets about half a meter to eighty centimeters deeper.
(04:19):
And effectively what that means is we looked at different well,
the government looked at different wall lengths that they could build,
and sort of nothing short of building two kilometer long
walls at the cost of tens of millions. If not
one hundred million dollars would have been a solution. And
even then it's going to have maintenance issues. So it
(04:43):
is really unfortunate that it is complicated. But on the
other side of things, there is a maintenance regime there.
I think the expectation that it was all tied. If
anyone has a time machine, they should go back, and
no one should ever have used those words. The service
of that boat ramp service level is two point eight meters,
(05:05):
and unfortunately it doesn't look like it's going to be
much better than that, and it is, you know, continuing
to be costly to maintain the sand that builds up there,
but it's also a brilliant facility compared to not being
able to launch your own boat one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
And by the sounds of what you're saying, you know,
unless unless we have an unlimited amount of money to
not only build it, but also to repair and maintain it,
then really, you know, we're not going to be able
to do it much differently to what we have currently.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Look it's effectively now a sixteen seventeen million dollar investment
that's gone on down there, and I think that maybe
puts in perspective for people how challenging it is. You know,
engineers were invited to look at you know, if we
change the rock wall, if they build another rock wall,
or what could be done. And the budget around that
(05:58):
time for that upgrade, you know, there was there was
somewhere between ten and fifteen million dollars in the pity
allocated and it just wouldn't have been enough to make
a major difference. The thing that the upgrade has done
has improved the amenity in terms of having having the
jetty there, having the lamb based fishing platform, but also
(06:19):
the rock wall previously wasn't solid and a lot of
sand used to move through the rock wall. So it
has been filled in and has been raised to stop
about twenty or thirty per cent of the sand built
up to slow it down and to reduce the maintenance burden.
But you know, if people thought that was going to
make it all tied, then you know, perhaps they hadn't
been following along closely enough. But it is still going
(06:41):
to be a two point eight three meter service level unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah. Oh well, I mean, look at least we've got
that infrastructure out there, and we know it is a
spot that people just love to go there is no
doubt about that. Hey, I want to ask you quickly
about the Nightcliff jetty. It was reopened in time for
the school holidays. What has been the word from those
being able to use it?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, that's right. So this Monday the jetty was reopened
to the public for the rest of the school holidays.
There's still work going on down there. I was on
site and bumped into the project manager and it was
great to get an update from him and all the
hard work that the department and the contractors have been doing.
It really does seem like that work was timely because
(07:24):
some of those repairs, you know, are quite urgent in
terms of preserving the longevity of the jetty. But the
fishing this week's been a little slow. There's been the
beta around has been a bit small, but I've seen
some TRAVALI caught off of the jetty, and I expect
now that we've got bigger tides into the latter part
of the week, I think we're going to see the
(07:46):
pelagic fishing hot up on the jetti. So it definitely
would be a pick for me to fish this week,
this weekend or during next week, because after the school holidays,
the Jetti will be closed for those repairs to be completed,
and that will probably take another few weeks.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well, David Girovolo, never any shortage of things to talk
about when people just love their fishing so much. So
good to catch up with you as always.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Thanks Katie, and I always I would love to be
able to say we have a perfect solution for the
Dundee Deaddy, and hopefully one day we will and as
refirst to the Dundee Bogram and if we do, you'll
be the first to know.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Good stuff. Well, thank you mate, I always appreciate your time.
Good to catch up with you as always.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Thanks Katie, thank you
Well, if your house is anything like ours, wedding A
line's been high on the agenda this school holidays and
dry season. A couple of weeks ago I went out
to Dundee for a weekend and got to check out
the boat ramp out there. Raised a few questions for
me after speaking with locals about the issues that they
encounter with it. But joining me on the line to
(00:20):
talk about plenty of different things when it comes to fishing,
it is David Chirovolo, the CEO of AFANT. Good morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You, David, Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Lovely to have you on the show mate. Have you
been out fishing at all over the last couple of
weeks so you've been too busy working.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have been busy working, but I did have a
bit of a flick down at Casarina chasing the dry
season widing, which is a bit of a thing that
I like to do when I haven't got time to
get the boat out. So yeah, there's plenty of people
out fishing during the school holidays. It's actually been amazing
to see it's.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Going off, no doubt about it. I think it's all
my son's done the whole school holidays and probably plenty
of parents out there saying the same thing. How have
those free boat rides or fairy rides across the Mandora gone?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Oh look. Our partnership with Ceilink getting kids over to
Mandora for free during the school holidays has been tremendously popular.
My last check in with numbers was sort of midweek
and we were well over three hundred. Free tickets have
been taken up, so really popular with the kids heading
(01:32):
over to fish at Mandora.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
It is awesome. I got like an emergency text from
my son one morning saying, Mom, did you register me?
I was like, Oh, sorry, mate, You're just gonna have
to pay today. I was too slow. I think all
the spots had been utilized, but I know that all
the boys and girls have been over there, certainly for
a fish which I reckon. It's just excellent. I think
(01:54):
it's a really good thing for those kids to be
able to get out and about and live that real
territory lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh look, absolutely, And it's also been a great opportunity
for people to rediscover Mandora and to go over and
see the new facility over there, and to really engage
with fishing on the jetty and exploring the coastline, because
the great thing with that jetty now is that the
ferry itself doesn't dock with the jetti. It docks with
(02:24):
the marina, and that means that it's a lot better
for fishing because you can basically set up and get
your baits out for those big pelagic fish. And it's
been really good. And I just say to your listeners, Katie,
there is a calendar system on the ticket, so last
minute ticket on a day of issoosing maybe a problem.
But we do still have days where there are free tickets.
So if people are interested, jump on the atfant website
(02:45):
and there should be some tickets for next week.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and there seems to be plenty available. Hey,
I want to ask you, David. I've been out to
Dundee over the last couple of weeks and there'd been
some feedback from locals around there, and we've got a
few messages about this as well, saying, you know, sort
of talking to us about the boat ramp. What's been
the feedback for you since the boat ramp upgrades.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Look, Katie, one of the one of the perennial things
about you know fishing is that the title change twice
a day and people will be unhappy with donee boat ramp.
It is a real challenge. When I first arrived on
the scene here representing fishes almost ten years ago, people
were really upset that the new all tide boat ramp
(03:33):
that had been built by the previous Colp government wasn't
what people had hoped. And I think one of the
things that we've seen since more money has been spent
on it and going through a long detailed process where
we really were brought into the fold by the previous
government who had a working group for about about sort
(03:55):
of eighteen months around this and there was an engineering
study around the sand and look, the sort of short
answer is there is no perfect solution for that location
because it's a very difficult place to build a boat ramp.
It's shallow. When you go out eight hundred meters, it
only gets about half a meter to eighty centimeters deeper.
(04:19):
And effectively what that means is we looked at different well,
the government looked at different wall lengths that they could build,
and sort of nothing short of building two kilometer long
walls at the cost of tens of millions. If not
one hundred million dollars would have been a solution. And
even then it's going to have maintenance issues. So it
(04:43):
is really unfortunate that it is complicated. But on the
other side of things, there is a maintenance regime there.
I think the expectation that it was all tied. If
anyone has a time machine, they should go back, and
no one should ever have used those words. The service
of that boat ramp service level is two point eight meters,
(05:05):
and unfortunately it doesn't look like it's going to be
much better than that, and it is, you know, continuing
to be costly to maintain the sand that builds up there,
but it's also a brilliant facility compared to not being
able to launch your own boat one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
And by the sounds of what you're saying, you know,
unless unless we have an unlimited amount of money to
not only build it, but also to repair and maintain it,
then really, you know, we're not going to be able
to do it much differently to what we have currently.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Look it's effectively now a sixteen seventeen million dollar investment
that's gone on down there, and I think that maybe
puts in perspective for people how challenging it is. You know,
engineers were invited to look at you know, if we
change the rock wall, if they build another rock wall,
or what could be done. And the budget around that
(05:58):
time for that upgrade, you know, there was there was
somewhere between ten and fifteen million dollars in the pity
allocated and it just wouldn't have been enough to make
a major difference. The thing that the upgrade has done
has improved the amenity in terms of having having the
jetty there, having the lamb based fishing platform, but also
(06:19):
the rock wall previously wasn't solid and a lot of
sand used to move through the rock wall. So it
has been filled in and has been raised to stop
about twenty or thirty per cent of the sand built
up to slow it down and to reduce the maintenance burden.
But you know, if people thought that was going to
make it all tied, then you know, perhaps they hadn't
been following along closely enough. But it is still going
(06:41):
to be a two point eight three meter service level unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah. Oh well, I mean, look at least we've got
that infrastructure out there, and we know it is a
spot that people just love to go there is no
doubt about that. Hey, I want to ask you quickly
about the Nightcliff jetty. It was reopened in time for
the school holidays. What has been the word from those
being able to use it?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, that's right. So this Monday the jetty was reopened
to the public for the rest of the school holidays.
There's still work going on down there. I was on
site and bumped into the project manager and it was
great to get an update from him and all the
hard work that the department and the contractors have been doing.
It really does seem like that work was timely because
(07:24):
some of those repairs, you know, are quite urgent in
terms of preserving the longevity of the jetty. But the
fishing this week's been a little slow. There's been the
beta around has been a bit small, but I've seen
some TRAVALI caught off of the jetty, and I expect
now that we've got bigger tides into the latter part
of the week, I think we're going to see the
(07:46):
pelagic fishing hot up on the jetti. So it definitely
would be a pick for me to fish this week,
this weekend or during next week, because after the school holidays,
the Jetti will be closed for those repairs to be completed,
and that will probably take another few weeks.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well, David Girovolo, never any shortage of things to talk
about when people just love their fishing so much. So
good to catch up with you as always.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Thanks Katie, and I always I would love to be
able to say we have a perfect solution for the
Dundee Deaddy, and hopefully one day we will and as
refirst to the Dundee Bogram and if we do, you'll
be the first to know.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Good stuff. Well, thank you mate, I always appreciate your time.
Good to catch up with you as always.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Thanks Katie, thank you
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